


Winter of Ulster

by Jay_s_Atelier



Series: Prototype Seasons [5]
Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Writing Synthesis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29758386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jay_s_Atelier/pseuds/Jay_s_Atelier
Summary: The world still turns, but the changes of a wish make a kingdom more like a fairy tale. The results of one can still make something of a happy ending for another. Cu Chulainn takes in the result of Ayaka's wish.
Relationships: Cú Chulainn | Lancer (Fate/Prototype)/Tohsaka Rin
Series: Prototype Seasons [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2134665
Comments: 6
Kudos: 3





	Winter of Ulster

**Author's Note:**

> Big surprise, but I do not own any of the characters or anything in the Fate fandom. My status as a Master in FGO doesn't entitle me to anything. I do, however, own the plot bunny for what I just wrote. You can thank the characters for being voluntold to participate~

“Where is Hakuno?!” A woman shouted as she shook him. Shook him rather hard, considering he could feel himself still the dead weight of a man still asleep. His own eyes jolted open, while he held firm onto the one shaking him. It could almost be called the beginning of a dance – Cu remembers learning about a few of them, if he wasn’t holding her still.

“How should I know that?” Cu shot back to the beautiful stranger that looked just about ready to kill him. Those eyes fierce and the blond of her hair reminding him of the glow of the sun. A few swift changes on her stance as she loosened herself and twisted had him slammed onto the floor in response. A punch with all her force and weight behind her, mana too – he could just feel the foreign energy in her fist, hit him in the gut soon after.

That _hurt_ a little!

Cu’s own eyes started to gleam as he pushed himself up and ready to fight the woman in front of him. _She_ started it! “Willing to fight me now. Do you even know who I am?” He wouldn’t stop if they continued, she was beautiful and impressive with that fire in her eyes and those eyes that said just how willing she was to fight and kill him with that trained body to get what she wanted.

“You’re Cu Chulainn, but not my Lancer Servant of Cu Chulainn. I don’t know what the Moon Cell is trying to prove, but I will not let you keep me from Hakuno. My friend counts for more than that. Stupid challenge after she won the Holy Grail War should have stopped when that moron unleashed a god on us!” Her eyes were gleaming in an even greater fire as a reminiscence of targeted fury came to mind.

Cu felt a little shudder at the image of being her Servant, he liked the Master he had in his own grail war - she reminded him of his Teacher in ways, but it sounded like another version of him had the luck to be this lass’s partner. “I’m not a trick!” Actually, now that he thought about it he didn’t feel like he did the last time he recalled when he was in Japan, if that was where he even was. He tried to astralize to get a better position, only to find out he couldn’t. “Fuck, I’m not even a Servant anymore. This doesn’t count as any Holy Grail War fuckery. I don’t even know where this is!”

“This isn’t the Moon Cell either.” It appeared that the only other person he could see was taking her own check. Still, her eyes never left him. Smart woman. “I can’t hack like I could before.”

_Rin Tohsaka and Cu Chulainn have been chosen as the King and Queen of the Winter Kingdom._

_For they are the Pillars of the Season Seal to prevent the unleashing of a great evil!_

_Rejoice, for you have life anew for this purpose._

_Defeat the phantasmal and Usurpers of the Seal._

_Fight and live!_

“I felt that to my bones..” The blond ground her teeth.

“Ya know what? Me too. Who decided I needed to be a King of anything to begin with?” Cu refused to look weak in front of his possible opponent. His possible opponent that just relaxed her stance and looked more annoyed now then anything. Cu let himself fall into a different stance that imitating her own, ready for another attack in the making.

“The same idiot that decided to make me a Queen. I have things to do, like finding my friend. I pulled her with me when I jumped off of the moon; it would have killed her to stay there. She should have been here too.” She blew out a sigh, looking more worried than anything else. He could understand the worry. It looked like she was loyal to her friend and that was enough for him. “My name is Rin Tohsaka, apparently, that makes me your Queen.”

“You jumped off of the moon with your friend?” He could be forgiven for asking the most outrageous thing she said. Who does something like that? And why hadn’t he heard of her legend as a Heroic Spirit?

“Of course I did! I needed to get home and my friend needed to live.” Rin looked at him like he missed the obvious. She must have spent a lot of time with the other him to think he would think that normal. Then again, it was a grail war too. He sort of wanted to know what the moon was like now.

“Right, right. Just so you know. I’ll just do the enforcing and following directions. You can do the ruling.”

.

* * *

.

Cu Chulainn looked over at the white surrounding him, the snow not disguising the castle he was standing in, which looked like some mix of traditional Japanese, his own memories of his uncle’s castle, and a few of the books he spotted and idly paged through on European fairy tales for children in the few stores he had stepped in while on reconnaissance. The scattered villages he could see beyond the castle looked like hunter’s villages, a few farm hand villages that knew how to plow the land – even if it looked like this castle was fancy enough to have its own green houses, and holdings that were a less dramatic version of this castle and land walled off from the rest.

“It appears that the castle is insulated and kept warm due to rune craft and an effective use of a large natural hot spring pumped through all the pipes for the plumbing. The castle is done completely, but it appears even the bath houses in the Winter Town in the castle walls are heated. The same with the green houses.” A blond haired mage with oceanic eyes spoke out in surprise. He could not get tired of looking at the many expressions Rin made.

“You’re already done with that, Rin.” Cu looked over at her impressed. He was, also, a little more pleased in the fact that she was wearing furs that matched him, despite wearing red to her outfit instead of the blues he wore.

“Of course. I won’t be lazy while we’re here.” Rin glared over at him, that fire in her causing Cu to smirk at the sight.

“You’re not going to punch me again are you?”

“I might. My inspection of our situation is hopeful. How did checking up on the other settlements go? Did we have any animals that were capable of being hunted?”

“Oh the structures of them were sound. I was more surprised I knew half of the people here and the others mentioned knowing you.” Cu smirked. The two of them were pretty busy taking stock of where they were. Only had one brief scuffle with a few phantasmals already, but they didn’t stand a chance against Cu and those that were with him. Which reminded him. “Did you know that we have more people that used to be Servants here in this kingdom?” Cu had met another Lancer that mentioned being a Valkyrie with a few mentions of her love when he talked about Rin with her. He wondered if he would meet Sigurd ever.

"Were any of them Hakuno?" Rin waited for his answer to her own question first.

"Nah, although the description sounded a little familiar none of them could remember where." Cu didn't point out that somehow her friend looked like some other friend of theirs with a different name. "But Servants? Or former Servants, did you know?" 

Rin looked over at him like he was the slow one, "Of course I did. Did you miss Arash somehow when he shouted about it being cold? He volunteered to hunt for us and check out how many animals were around to survey. He was a Servant too."

"That guy?" Cu remembered the man as sort of happy and all too into cheer. He didn't seem like anyone special, but not everyone could be as obvious as his opponents in his grail war. Gilgamesh and that Holy Sword user were pretty flamboyant for all the sword user tried to be low key. "Did he ever get back to us on that?" 

"He sent one of the scouts that went with him. It seems that after a few animals are killed, more of them appear from the bends of snow. Just like how the trees keep growing back overnight when we cut them down for our own use." Rin was pleased with that development, but not going to act like it was an unlimited resource. It could stop any time. Best use it now and then have a rationing plan for when the crops and fish were harvested.

A knock on the door surprised the both of them, as well as a call that came with it. "Your Highnesses, we have a visitor for you from outside the Winter Kingdom!"

Rin and Cu looked at one another and moved over to the thrones. Cu collapsed into his black iron like throne, the cushions were beyond comfortable, while Rin slipped into hers and leaned back to feign indifference. Cu smirked at the image she presented. 

"Let them in!"

.

* * *

.

Ayaka took a deep and subtle breath before walking into the audience chamber of the Winter Castle. She was still surprised that she didn't even need to change her robes, it was still so pleasantly warm to her out in the snow as it was in Uruk. ' _I guess there are more things to discover as Mother Earth.'_

The Queen didn't look much older than herself with blond hair that reminded Ayaka of Father and eyes like the oceans. The King was someone she could never forget, considering he was the one that got her involved in the Holy Grail War. 

"I remember you, Saber's Master." The former Lancer leaned forward, "So how did you get involved in this?" 

Ayaka looked between both King and Queen before beginning. She felt that after almost a month, most of it would be redundant, but the explanation could never hurt. They were _her_ people. "I won the Holy Grail War, but I didn't realize the grail was using my imagination and thoughts to grant my wish. My sister, who was supposed to have died in the previous grail war, decided she wanted to steal Saber - who she was obsessed with - and unleash hell on earth. I designed the Seal by just wanting her put away. I don't even remember much of what I was thinking due to almost dying at the time, but the grail approved. It turned me into Mother Nature as well as granted the Pillars of that Seal for the Season the position of King and Queen. If the Seal breaks, my sister will be let onto the earth, it appears she had another monster with her at the time too. A Beast that could end the world."

A whistle was heard from Cu, "Well, I never expected to be one of the reasons we don't have the end of the world."

"How did I end up as the Winter Queen?" The cool voice of the Queen reminded Ayaka of the chill she couldn't feel. 

"The grail picked who would suit and make the King and primary Pillar happy I believe. Father has Merlin, Ozymandias has Nefertari, and Gilgamesh has Hakuno-" 

"Hakuno! Tell me is she amber eyed and brown haired, about this tall, soft spoken, and flawless skin?" Ayaka was taken back by the interruption.

"Yes, she's the Autumn Queen." Ayaka answered before continuing with her own question, "Do you know a Rin? Hakuno was looking for her."

" _I am Rin_." The Queen replied. "And you better find a way for the two of us to meet. I take it a Pillar _can't_ leave their Kingdom, so you better make a way for that to happen. I did not drag her from the Moon Cell to never see her again."


End file.
